JANUARY 2010 - TOPICS

Short News Meeting of the Governing Council of Hel.A.S. Job Opening The Hands-On Universe Upcoming Astronomy Meetings in Greece About this Newsletter

1. SHORT NEWS

The Governing Council of Hel.A.S. would like to wish to all its members and their families a Happy, Healthy and Productive NEW YEAR 2010. The Council would also like to acknowledge the support of all members of the Society who contributed their time and energy for numerous activities associated with the 2009 International Year of Astronomy. The various events coordinated by the Society all over Greece, were a great success. We all hope that they will have a lasting positive impact in the appreciation of Astronomy by the general public. We would like to congratulate Dr. Vallia Antoniou, who recently moved to a research associate position at the Department of Physics & Astronomy of Iowa State University (USA).

2. MEETING OF THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF HEL.A.S.

On December 17th 2009 the Governing Council (GC) of Hel.A.S. held via teleconference a meeting to discuss various issues related to the organizational matters, as well as upcoming activities of the Society. All members are strongly encouraged to read the minutes of this GC meeting, which are available online at: http://www.helas.gr/events/GC_17Dec09.pdf During the meeting it was decided that the next (28th) General Assembly (GA) of Society will take place on Monday the 21st of June 2010 at the Department of Physics of the University of Athens. During this GA the new Governing Council of the Society for the 2010-2012 term will be elected. By the end of January 2010 all Members will have received by post the official announcement regarding the elections. According to Article 29 of the Constitution all ordinary members of the Society who have no outstanding membership fees may nominate themselves or other ordinary members for the Council. The nominations have to be returned to the Secretary of the Society by February 28th 2010. The call for nominations as well as the necessary forms are also available online at the "News & Events" section of the web pages of the Society. More information on the General Assembly and the elections will become available in future newsletters.

3. JOB OPENING

A new position at the level of "Lecturer" in the field of "Mathematical Physics with Emphasis in Relativity and Cosmology" has opened at the Department of Information and Communication Systems Engineering of the University of the Aegean (F.E.K. 946/26-11-2009) . The application deadline is 29 January 2010. For more information contact the Secretariat of the Department Mrs E. Grammatikou, phone: +30 22730 82026, e-mail: rena@aegean.gr

4. THE HANDS-ON UNIRVESE

The "Hands-On Universe, Europe. Bringing frontline interactive astronomy to the classroom" is project based on real observations, possibly acquired by the pupils themselves in classrooms thanks to either a European and worldwide network of automatic telescopes operated via Internet or didactical tools (Webcam system, radio telescope) developed within this project. These observations can be manipulated in classrooms with a specific software designed to be pupils friendly. They are integrated into pedagogical resources constructed in a close collaborative work between researchers and teachers. For more information on the Greek component of this activity, the members of Hel.A.S. are suggested to consult the dedicated web site: http://www.gr.euhou.net/

5. UPCOMING ASTRONOMY MEETINGS IN GREECE

The following meetings will take place in Greece. Please check the corresponding web page or contact the organizers by e-mail for more information.

High Time Resolution Astrophysics in the era of Extremely Large Telescopes Aghios Nikolaos, Crete, 5-7 May 2010 Astronomy with Megastructures Aghios Nikolaos, Crete, 10-14 May 2010 Recent Developments in Gravity (NEB-14) Ioannina, 8-11 June 2010 Binary Star Evolution: Mass Loss, Accretion, and Mergers Mykonos, 22-25 June 2010

6. ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER

This Newsletter was sent to all members of Hel.A.S. who have e-mail access. The next edition of the Newsletter will be mailed around February 1st 2010. Please send your announcements (e.g. appointments/departures, job openings, research opportunities, awards, conferences in Greece) or comments before January 25, 2010. If you do not wish to receive future issues of this Newsletter or the e-mail address to which it was sent is not your preferred one, please inform the Secretary of Hel.A.S.